Our partners, our champions

Reaching out to our neighbors in need takes a team effort – from businesses, our volunteers, our staff, our community. On Wednesday night, we paused to take a few hours to honor some of our team, our champions, who have really gone above and beyond to make a difference in our city. All of our partners play a vital role in how we reach out to those in need, so it was difficult to choose just two to honor, but that was the plan. So, our deepest thanks and congratulations to Reach USA/ValPak and Two Men and a Truck for your work in 2009.

Reach USA/ValPak and Jim Brantley – We honored them for helping us get the word out. In our efforts to use our donor support to do the most good, The Salvation Army uses less than 1/2% of our budget to advertise and market our organization and services. Reach USA/ValPak works with us to get the most out of those dollars, offering reduced rate and sometimes even free space in their publications. And in 2009, Reach USA/ValPak was our WIBC Radiothon Phone Bank sponsor – donating their dollars and their employees’ time answering phones and helping out at Emmis. Jim offers his time and talent serving on our Advisory Board and Development Committee as well. Thanks, Reach USA/ValPak!

Two Men and a Truck and Drew Werling – We honored Two Men for all of the support their offer by transporting coat and toy donations during our annual Coats for Kids and WISHTree/Angel Tree collection drives. That’s no small task to pick up thousands of coats and toys from locations all over the city and get them efficiently to us to distribute to thousands of families in need. Two Men is also a title sponsor of our Homelessness Bites campaign for homeless and abused women and children. Drew believed in us when the campaign started and has supported us every step of the way. And we can’t forget the dozens of boxes they’ve donated to ship Operation Compassion care packages to our troops serving overseas. Thanks, Two Men!

And finally, a special thanks to our Advisory Board Chair, Diane Nichols (Perkins Nichols Media) for her tireless efforts to promote the brand and cause of The Salvation Army.

We are so appreciative that we could share the evening with friends from Kroger, WISH TV-8, the Northwest Indianapolis Kiwanis and Tuchman Cleaners as well. Thanks for taking the time to see how your support changes lives.

If you’d like to partner with The Salvation Army, give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

Thanks, ValPak and REACH Magazine!

We have a phone bank sponsor! Thanks to Jim Brantley and the folks at ValPak and REACH magazine for digging deep for their neighbors in need and joining us for our 15th annual WIBC Radiothon on December 11-13.

And as much as we appreciate the support, this sponsorship comes with some great perks.

Ever run a marathon?

Preparing for a marathon takes some serious dedication. Runners don’t just sign up, then show up. There’s a lot of training and conditioning that goes into this kind of event. Participating in a marathon isn’t for the occassional jogger, it’s for the committed.

We are just one week away from our annual marathon of giving - the WIBC Radiothon. And believe me, it’s been a test of endurance. We’ve learned to stretch the muscles and dig deep to push beyond the challenges that arise during the pre-race preperations. Our community has been tested by tornadoes and flooding and by the rollercoaster economy. We’ve struggled to focus amidst the flurry of flashbulbs being in the national spotlight during this recent presidential election. In a year that we needed the most single-mindedness of focus on our coming marathon, we have certainly had a lot going on.

But, just like any race, it’s not the preparation that deserves the spotlight – it’s the event. So, continued thanks to all of our partners who are stepping up and putting your support behind us. It will take so many more of us to give what we can to ensure the need is met in our city this Christmas and for the year ahead. Our sincerest appreciation to our hourly sponsors – Planned Investment, ValPak/Reach USA, The Mutual Fund Store, Firestone and so many others. Thanks to our in-kind sponsors for your generous donations for our prize packages – Gerdt Furniture, Royal Spa, The Children’s Museum, The Indianapolis Zoo, Splash Universe, Transformations Spa and so many more. It sounds a little expected, but we TRULY could not enter this marathon without you.

And to those of you who are considering joining us…the need is great in Indianapolis, so our goal is up there – $175,000! The WIBC Radiothon is truly a marathon of giving, and it’s powered by your support. If you can make it happen, we need more hourly sponsors. The more support we have at the beginning of the race, the better finish. All you need to know about sponsorships can be found at our event site – WIBCRadiothon.org or by giving me (Kristen) a call at 224-1019.

We hope you’ll join our team. The race starts one week from today!